Vaden cloture vote passes

The Senate late Monday voted 49 to 45 to limit debate on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Stephen Vaden to be Agriculture Department general counsel.

Three Democrats — Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and two senators who were defeated in the November election, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana — joined Republicans in voting to move forward with the nomination.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Vaden nomination at 12:15 p.m. today.

Vaden is serving as deputy general counsel. His nomination is controversial because he defended voter ID laws when he was in private practice and he has played a role in developing unpopular workplace rules at USDA.